Secrets never last forever ... not when they control the fate of worlds.
A wife, caged …
Maria thought she was free of Elex’s vile brother, Cane, but now she’s his prisoner, alone in a foreign court that is nothing like her homeland. While she endures Cane’s torment and longs for freedom, Elex roams the streets of Oshala, plotting Maria’s rescue and his revenge. But as Elex and his supporters gear up for action, an unexpected threat changes everything.
A sorceress, cornered …
Ava’s escaped to the house of her youth, a magical fortress the dangerous Gods can’t penetrate. She convinces Billy to teach her magic, but Kush disagrees with many of Billy’s lessons about the Atlas Web and the Gods’ motives. Kush is determined that his father’s goals are good, that his work is important, and Ava’s stuck in the middle, striving to keep the peace between the two men she desperately needs.
A daughter, sacrificed …
Sophie’s worth is in nothing but marriage, and her sights are firmly set on Hale, the leader of Alter Blade; she must make him hers to escape her gilded cage. Unfortunately, Hale has no plans to shackle himself to anyone, especially not to a woman who only days ago pretended to be besotted with his younger brother. He has more important matters to attend, like unpicking his dead uncle’s affairs, but he’s not prepared for Sophie’s sharp wit and insults when he’d expected pouts and simpers, and he can’t seem to erase the blasted women from his mind.
As Hale and Sophie grow closer, the domain of the Goddess rumbles to life. Sophie can’t shake the sickening feeling that the Goddess will ring the Toll Bells and claim her due, and if she does, for Sophie, it spells death.
HR Moore writes romantic fantasy, romantasy, fantasy romance, and paranormal romance.
All HR's books contain strong women, high stakes, plot twists, adventure, found family and plenty of romance, with charaters willing to burn down the current order to change things for the better.
She resides in the UK, loves audiobooks, and lives for book club.
It takes a bit more for a story to be a full 5 stars for me, (also, am trying to be as objective as possible). This book is for more advanced Fantasy readers. However, it IS well edited, so if you're clever enough, you can give it a go.
This book took a while to read. I was kind of savouring it, because I really loved the first book, and therefore, wanted to prolong this one as well. The book READS SLOW, because it is SMART and INTELLIGENT and it REQUIRES you to THINK. (This is an opinion, take is as a FACT).
-> Multiple POVs -> Original story -> Well written (intelligent) -> Loved the writing stylistically -> A bit heavy emotionally (seems I like those type of books) -> Found family
-> Trigger Warnings: a) Women being used for the deed b) 1 FMC being held hostage c) Power politics (murder for power)
The story doesn't read fluently, however, that's a non-issue, because of the story being cut into various chapters, and not one continuous whole, the characters being quite original, as well as the writing trying hard to be intellectual as well (which I like and appreciate).
I kind of didn't like that the only Magic happening was in Ava's story. However, what was good, was that the magic does other things than being just used for battle. It's a complex system. I liked the introduction of more characters in Maria's story.
The cliff-hanger endings were an absolute delight!
I'm wondering how many books are going to be written in this series???
An intriguing sequel to Bride of Stars and Sacrifice (fka Celestl). The addition of other characters POVs and narratives in this sequel was excellent. Getting into the inner thoughts of these characters added depth to the storyline. I am obsessed with Sophie and Hale they were by far my favorite relationship of all the ones explored. just as with the first book, I really enjoy the concept of the Celestl world overall with the Blades and the Claws and the struggle for power. However, I am still struggling to see how the two main storylines/worlds merge together. I have my ideas and am looking forward to book 3.
Highlights: ✨Enemies to Lovers ✨Multiple POV & Love Stories ✨Portal Magic ✨Meddling Gods ✨Unique World
Favorite Quotes: “But with great power comes great potential to [eff] everything up,’—‘and just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.”
“Darling, please don’t underestimate how selfish I can be.”
Thank you to the author for this advanced copy. My opinions are my own.
This was an emotional journey with plenty of shocking twists and betrayals. Carrying on straight from book 1 Maria and Elix try to navigate Cane's rule and survive his dangerous mind games. Ava continues to understand her heritage and gifts, and works with Billy and Kush as they uncover more secrets. I loved having Hale and Sophie's new pov, I enjoyed their bickering and tension, and seeing their feelings develop in between their own plotting. This is packed full of political scheming, backstabbing, rebellion, revenge and power plays. The final chapters were full of surprises and high stakes, and the story was gripping start to finish. Looking forward to the next book!
Book 2 in the Cruel Goddess series did not disappoint. I felt that book 1 was HR Moore's best one yet but book 2 was even better. We had more insight into the characters which also brought on more questions. If you love romance there are now 3 love stories to fall for. Maria and Elek torn apart then reunited,. Ava and Kush hide from those looking to harm her. Hale and Sophie finding there way through the lies.. When the bells finally ring and we see who answers the call, what will mean for their world and the rest of them. I received an advanced reader copy but these thoughts are my own.
Ambitious in scope and absolutely brimming with great ideas. The most original element here is the world-building, which is genuinely inventive even when it’s hard to fully grasp what's happening or what elements are linked at this point. This world is fascinating in concept and I continue to love the larger conflict. This book is packed with scheming, betrayals, revenge plots, and political maneuvering. I’m still struggling to see how the major storylines are going to merge, especially since we’re following completely parallel narratives that won’t intersect until later in the series. I honestly think this is a risky structural choice: it’s bold, but I can see how it could lose readers who want a clearer sense of cohesion.
Where this book absolutely shines is its women. Ava, Maria, and Sophie are all incredible in very different ways, and I truly loved following each of them. They’re intelligent, resilient, and emotionally complex, and the writing around them is genuinely strong. The author is clearly talented, and the way these women are written made this book. Sophie, in particular, became my favorite in this installment. Her storyline felt the most dynamic, and I loved the tension and bickering between her and Hale as they both plotted and tried to figure one another out. Their relationship was the most interesting to read, even though he’s still… kind of questionable in his choices and interactions with her.
Which brings me to the biggest issue I had: the men. I often disliked the love interests in this book. I think the author was aiming for complex, morally gray men, but instead they came across as emotionally closed off, selfish, and far too focused on the physical side of their relationships. One of them leaves his wife to be tortured by his brother for far too long and publicly pretends to hate her with only minimal effort to help her. And yet… the narrative never really interrogates this behavior. It's not his fault or something...? There’s no meaningful growth or reckoning, so it ends up feeling like the story is quietly endorsing it. I kept waiting for a conversation, an emotional turning point, or even acknowledgment that these men’s actions were harmful and it just never came. There aren't really RED flags, but they're kind of yellow and they are numerous. None of these men felt worthy of the women they were paired with, and that imbalance bothered me. The romances overall leaned heavily on physical connection (without much spice, thankfully because again... I don't really like them) without enough emotional depth to make them feel earned.
Ava’s storyline started out as my favorite in the first book, but it became the most tedious and repetitive for me in this book. It does a lot of important work in explaining the magic system and world-building, which I appreciated, but it was slower and began to drag. I also fell out of love with Kush here. His sudden insistence that his father “wasn’t all bad” felt like a strange pivot from the first book and it confused me. Maria’s storyline remained emotionally intense, but I was deeply frustrated by how trauma was handled in relation to Cane. Two characters who were brutalized by him almost immediately turn around and inflict similar cruelty on others, and I found that incredibly disappointing. I was hoping for something more thoughtful or subtle in how that trauma was explored, and instead it felt shallow. Even the characters remarked on it.
Despite all of that, I still really enjoy the concept of this series. The hierarchy, the political power struggles, and the idea of fate being controlled by divine forces are compelling. This book is doing a lot, but there’s something here that keeps pulling me forward. I just wish the emotional depth of the relationships matched the complexity of the world.
In the end, I loved the women, admired the ambition, and stayed engaged because of the politics and intrigue. This series has the bones of something incredible. I just need parallel storylines to start converging soon.
Daughter of Secrets and Sorcery Cruel Goddess 2 di @hr_moore che ringrazio per la collaborazione "Take what you give. Time is not a constant. Balance is binary"
🌍 Multiple fantasy worlds 👑 Political marriage pacts 🩶 Morally Gray charcters ⚔️ Parallel storylines
🇮🇹 Questo secondo volume circa riprende da dove avevamo concluso il primo capitolo della saga. Elemento più originale è sicuramente il world-building super originale, anche se con i nuovi elementi può scombussolare. Seguiamo per tutto il libro 3 storyline completamente parallele, ma destinate ad incontrarsi nel terzo volume della saga. Partiamo subito con i miei preferiti Maria ed Elex, che tentano di tornare l'uno dall'altra mentre cercano anche di riprendere il governo del regno. I POV di Elex sono davvero pochissimi ma lì ho molto apprezzati mentre il mio POV preferito in assoluto è proprio Maria, e suoi capitoli sono quelli che ho trovato più dinamici e coinvolgenti. Ava è partita molto bene ma andando avanti con la lettura il suo POV è diventato più monotono, sebbene ci forniva diverse informazioni importanti soprattutto su world-building e sistema magico, è risultato più lento. In particolare il suo rapporto con Kush è risultato un po' bloccato, che non andava nè avanti nè indietro. Sophia invece mi ha conquistata capitolo dopo capitolo, se all'inizio non mi faceva impazzire, mi sono affezionata alla sua storia andando avanti con la lettura. I fili narrativi non sono nello stesso luogo nè nello stesso momento ma per quanto riguarda il riferimento temporale è (per fortuna) scritto all'inizio di ogni capitolo. Sotto il punto di vista romance alcune coppie si sono formate nello scorso volume e le vediamo trovare un loro equilibrio mentre un'altra si deve formare (e mi sono piaciuti un sacco). Personalmente non apprezzo le storyline completamente parallele e ammetto di attendere il momento in cui questi personaggi si incroceranno. Ci sono state parti più scorrevoli di altre, e momenti che sono riusciti a tenermi attaccata alle pagine mentre altri sono risultati decisamente più lenti. Purtroppo credo che questo libro soffra della sindrome del secondo libro e semplicemente mi è piaciuto meno del primo volume, anche se sono curiosa di scoprire come si evolverà la storia ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🇬🇧 This second volume or so picks up where the first chapter of the saga left off. The most original element is definitely the super original world-building, even if with the new elements it can get messy. We follow 3 completely parallel storylines throughout the book, but destined to meet in the third volume of the saga. Let's start with my favourites Maria and Elex, who attempt to return to each other while also trying to retake the government of the kingdom. Elex's POVs are very few but I really enjoyed them while my absolute favourite POV is Maria herself, her chapters are the ones I found most dynamic and engaging. Ava started off very well but as the reading went on her POV became more monotonous, although it provided us with a lot of important information especially about world-building and the magic system, it was slower. In particular her relationship with Kush felt a bit stuck, going neither forward nor backward. Sophia on the other hand won me over chapter after chapter, if at first I wasn't crazy about her, I grew fond of her story as I went on reading. The narrative storyline are neither in the same place nor at the same time, but the time reference is (thankfully) written at the beginning of each chapter. From the romance point of view some couples have formed in the last volume and we see them finding their balance while another one has to form (and I liked them a lot). Personally, I don't like completely parallel storylines and I admit to waiting for the moment when these characters will cross paths. There were parts that flowed better than others, and moments that managed to keep me attached to the pages while others felt decidedly slower. Unfortunately I think this book suffers from second book syndrome and I simply enjoyed it less than the first volume, although I am curious to see how the story will evolve ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Celestl is in danger and the blades are all seeking alliances through forced marriages between the four sectors. The water problems were real and the claws had no water to mention. This book is very dark and kept me riveted but reading with my heart in my mouth all the time. It is full of betrayals, cruelty and women have no say in the dealings between men, or do they? This book reads like George RR Martin’s books in the Game of Thrones series, where even the main characters are at risk of being killed off. Ava is seeking knowledge of her dead parents and trying to get a handle on her magic, whilst having to hide in her parent’s old magical house, because Var was out to get her. Meanwhile Sophie was to marry John, however she falls for his brother Hale and intends to find her happiness in a love match finally, whilst Maria who is so in love and newly married to Elex returns with him to his blade and finds that his evil brother has through a coup taken over their sector. Elex ends up living with his rebellious friends whilst Maria is being held hostage by Cane and his two wives. Secrets abound, and Nicoli is at the heart of many of these. The Gods had had their souls ripped by Ava’s mother Pollyanna, and they wanted the missing part back. The Goddess meanwhile had departed from Celestl and stayed away for three hundred years, but if her bells tolled again though many would rejoice, those offered as sacrifices would not. A woman from each sector’s bloodline had to go through the goddess’ portal. So will the bells toll ever again? And if they do who would be sacrificed? Phew, as I said this is a very riveting book and I just need to read the next book asap before my heart stops in fear for the women at risk!
ARC Read This sequel really opens up the world in some cool ways. I loved getting more POVs this time around as it made everything feel bigger and raised the stakes. That said, I was definitely more pulled into Maria’s storyline. Her chapters felt clear and fast-moving, while Ava’s POV got a little confusing for me at times. The secrets keep unraveling, and I really liked how the plot keeps building instead of stalling out. The pacing slows down here and there, but it feels like it’s setting things up for what’s coming. And when it picks up? It really picks up. There’s good spice, strong found-family vibes, and an ending that genuinely shocked me. Those last chapters had me fully hooked, and I’m already excited to jump into the next book.
The second book in the Cruel Goddess series felt a lot darker than the first with some trigger warnings definitely in play (lucky i never read them anyway). Absolutely loved the multitude of different POVs in this story and even though the timelines jumped around a fair bit, It was well thought out and remained quite easy to follow where each POV was in the timeline of events! It definitely added to the story and helped to understand a much deeper layer than readers normally get. Absolutely loved this continuation of an already brilliant story and running to book 3!
I found listening to Billy's explanations kind of confusing, kush and Ava have less chemistry than they did in the first book. Mild spice. I did like different points of view from the different cahracters and jumping back and forth between the two stories, but where the heck is the next book? I want to know what happens. How is Ava connected to celestl? There are too many cliff hangers here!!!